Did Volcanos Wipe Out Neanderthals?

New research sheds light on this possibility.

ScienceDaily (Oct. 7, 2010) — New research suggests that climate change following massive volcanic eruptions drove Neanderthals to extinction and cleared the way for modern humans to thrive in Europe and Asia...

"[W]e offer the hypothesis that the Neanderthal demise occurred abruptly (on a geological time-scale) … after the most powerful volcanic activity in western Eurasia during the period of Neanderthal evolutionary history," the researchers write. "[T]his catastrophe not only drastically destroyed the ecological niches of Neanderthal populations but also caused their mass physical depopulation."

Neanderthals were very buff

Neanderthal guys were full of natural steroids and had overdeveloped right arms. They would make modern humans look like 'girlie men.'

Neanderthal guys were no girlie-men.

Prehistoric man apparently boasted a rock-hard body, including an overdeveloped ... Read more here.

Neanderthals In Britain 40,000 Years Earlier Than First Thought

(Credit: iStockphoto/Frank Ramspott)

The time-line for Neanderthals entering Britain is being revised.

Neanderthals Walked Into Frozen Britain 40,000 Years Earlier Than First Thought, Evidence Shows